POLICE UNION WILL BACK FLETCHER

Group had delayed endorsement, interviewed major mayoral candidates

KEARNY MESA 
The San Diego Police Officers Association, following weeks of consideration, has decided to endorse former state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher for mayor.

The question of whom the police union would back had become something of a cliffhanger. The union had last supported Fletcher in his previous bid for mayor in 2012 but had also endorsed his mayoral rival, Kevin Faulconer, twice before when he ran for City Council.

The coveted endorsement, in addition to Fletcher’s backing from city firefighters and lifeguards, gives him bragging rights as law enforcement’s choice for mayor. It also comes just days before some voters start receiving ballots in the mail, beginning Monday.

Both Fletcher and Faulconer, along with City Councilman David Alvarez and former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre, are vying to replace former Mayor Bob Filner in a Nov. 19 special election. Seven other candidates are on the ballot.

“This was a harder vote for us, hands down, based on past endorsements,” said POA President Brian Marvel, who would not disclose the breakdown of the nine-member board’s vote. “But the reality is, we wanted to have a thorough discussion of this as a board and evaluate what each one of the candidates brought to the table, and it ultimately came down to Nathan.”

Marvel repeatedly cited what he believes is Fletcher’s ability to bring divergent sides together on potentially contentious issues. He also mentioned Fletcher’s service in the Marines and his current employment by Qualcomm and took note of Fletcher’s authorship, while in the Assembly, of Chelsea’s Law, named after Poway teenager Chelsea King, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by sex offender John Gardner in February 2010. The legislation enhanced sentencing for predators who commit forcible sex crimes against children.

While Fletcher early on had been the presumed choice of the police officers, the competition for the group’s support heated up after the union decided to interview each of the leading mayoral candidates and then further weigh the question after a mayoral forum last week that focused on public safety issues.

Both Fletcher, a former Republican and now a Democrat, and Faulconer, a Republican, had already released in advance of the debate their own plans aimed at rebuilding the police department in the face of difficulties it has faced in recruiting and retaining officers because other cities offer more-lucrative pay and benefits.

About half of the department’s more than 1,800 sworn officers are eligible to retire in the next four years.

When Fletcher introduced his plan, he said his hope would be to cut officer attrition in half and add 160 new officers to the department by 2016.

“As mayor, my highest priority is going to be making sure our communities are safe,” Fletcher said at the endorsement news conference at POA headquarters. “As a parent of two young boys, it’s the single most important thing we do at the city. … If I’m the mayor, we are going to get our police staffing back to 2,000 officers by 2016, and we are going to cut attrition in half.”

Faulconer’s campaign responded to the news by reiterating his commitment to strengthening the police department. Besides voting in favor of a new police contract this year that guarantees officers a 7 percent compensation increase over five years, Faulconer led a council effort to set aside $2 million in this year’s budget for police recruitment and retention programs, which was supported unanimously by the council.

“Kevin Faulconer is committed to rebuilding the Police Department with savings from pension reform and other fiscal reforms he led on,” said campaign spokesman Tony Manolatos. “If voters elect Kevin, they will see across-the-board increases in street repairs and other neighborhood services, starting in San Diego’s most neglected communities. If they elect anyone else, they will see across-the-board pay and benefit increases at City Hall.”